Radiance: The Celestial Chronicles
by Sweet Star
Summary: A new evil has come to the DigiWorld and is possessing innocent Digimon with evil spirits. The first DigiDestined have been called again to help, but this time they'll need two more kids to help. Although this evil may even be more powerful than Apocalymo
1. Episode 1: Fact and Fiction

_Do you wanna play the game 'Who's Life is Weirder'? I'll win. I may be just a sixteen year old girl from Seattle on the plane to Tokyo for a six-month exchange program. But just wait. I'll win._

_

* * *

_

Juniper looked out her plane window, trying to see if she could catch a glimpse of whatever they were flying over. But all she could see were wispy clouds strewn about the azure sky, like cotton balls that were pulled apart. Juniper's reverie was interrupted by a soft dinging sound. Her bright blue eyes darted up to look at the yellow light flashing above her. The stewardess came over the intercom and announced, "We're approaching our destination. Please return to your seats and buckle your seatbelts."

The young girl pushed a strand of butterscotch blonde hair behind her ear and turned to look at the other teenager sitting next to her. The boy sat with his eyes closed and wearing large headphones, which had dishevelled his blood red hair.

"Riley," Juniper whispered. The boy didn't stir. She softly nudged his arm to get his attention. Riley slowly opened one eye in annoyance to look at her, sliding his headphones around his neck.

"What?" he barked. Juniper winced at his tone, but she hoped he didn't notice.

"The light to put on our seatbelts came on; I think we're almost there."

"Mm-kay," Riley grumbled, reaching for his headphones once more.

"Riley?" Juniper called again. He rolled his eyes, deciding to forget about being able to listen to his music again. That sound in her voice meant she was going to talk for a long time.

"Do you really hate doing this because you just don't want to, or you don't want to with me?" she asked with melancholy eyes.

Riley chose to play the "dumb" card. "Doing what?"

"Going to Japan," she replied.

"Well, I'm here, aren't I?"

"But everything was finalized before—" Juniper cut herself off. She and Riley decided to both spend a year in Japan together on an exchange program with their school, back when they were together.

Riley's piercing orange eyes softened a little.

"Look, I know this can be awkward sometimes, but try not to worry about it. We'll be staying with different families, and we'll probably go to different schools. Tokyo's a big city. Maybe we won't have to see each other at all," he told her.

"That's true," Juniper said quietly and turned back to her window. She silently buckled her seat then pressed her cheek against the glass. She noticed that she could make out tiny buildings through the clouds. Out of habit, she fondled the gold necklace she always wore around her neck. It was a very simple necklace; just a gold chain with a flat gold disc pendant hanging down. Juniper's dad had brought it back for her from a business trip in India.

Riley was still watching her, surprised that she didn't reply with some nasty remark, which is what she would've done. He just shrugged and putting his headphones on once more, closed his eyes.

* * *

Within fifteen minutes their plane had landed in the Tokyo Airport, and Juniper and Riley were soon rolling their suitcases down the hallway to the lobby of the airport, where they were supposed to meet their host families. Juniper was staying with the Takenouchi family; they had a young girl her age. Riley's hosts were the Ishidas, and they too had a son the same age. Juniper searched through the crowd of people already waiting for their loved ones to get off the plane. She stood on her tiptoes to glance over the heads of people around them, when she spotted a large sign saying 'Welcome to Tokyo Juniper!'

"Over there!" Juniper exclaimed and pointed to the sign. She grabbed her suitcase and began to make her way over to her host family.

"You go ahead, I think I found my family over here," Riley told her and left in the opposite direction.

Juniper stopped to watch him go. No 'good bye', no 'see you later'…it was so hard for Juniper to get used to this side of Riley. Sometimes she couldn't believe that he had even loved her. She thought about what Riley had said on the plane…about how they probably won't see each other that often. A wave of enlightenment came over Juniper as she decided that maybe she could use this opportunity to finally get over him. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Maybe this would do her good after all.

Now a bit more hopeful, Juniper continued towards her host family. Under the sign she saw a pretty young girl with short ginger hair standing next to her mother, who looked very sophisticated. Both of them were smiling widely as they saw Juniper approach.

"Hello!" Juniper greeted with enthusiasm and turned to hug the girl and the woman.

"Konnichiwa!" the girl said as they embraced. "I'm Sora."

"And you can call me Ms. Takenouchi. So nice to meet you, Juniper," the woman said.

"Did you have a nice flight?" Sora asked Juniper.

"It was very long and tiring, but everything went smoothly," Juniper replied. She turned around to look for Riley through the crowd to make sure he found his family. She spotted him talking to a very handsome boy with long blond hair. Suddenly, Juniper dreaded the thought of leaving Riley. She wanted him with her so they could go through this experience together. That was how they had initially planned it so long ago. This could be the last time she saw Riley for a while…

"I bet you're exhausted, Juniper. Do you want to go straight to our house so you can take a nap and then we'll have dinner?" Ms. Takenouchi suggested. Juniper turned to her and nodded with a wistful smile.

"Is something wrong?" Sora asked, noticing Juniper's expression.

"Nah, just jetlagged, I guess," Juniper responded.

* * *

Sora and Juniper were sitting together at the dining table chatting away as they waited for Ms. Takenouchi to finish up dinner. They had prepared a traditional Japanese meal especially for Juniper. She could smell the steamed rice and sauces coming from the kitchen. It smelled more crisp and fresh than Japanese food from restaurants in America. Juniper's stomach growled noisily as she realized she was starving. Sora giggled at the sound of Juniper's stomach.

"I'm so glad you chose to come to Japan. You're going to love it here!" said Sora.

"I hope so. I'm nervous about school, though. My Japanese isn't extremely good."

"What are you talking about? Your Japanese is amazing! I mean, you do have a couple of grammar mistakes here and there, but that's understandable. Do a lot of people speak Japanese where you live?"

"Well, in Seattle there is a large population of Japanese and Chinese, so those languages are popular to learn in school."

"Dinner is served!" Ms. Takenouchi called as she pushed through the swinging kitchen door with a plate of steaming hot dumplings in her hands. Sora got up to help her bring in the rest of the food.

"Here are some chopsticks, dear. If you have trouble with those, we have forks and knives in the kitchen as well," Ms. Takenouchi said.

"Thanks. There are hundreds of Japanese restaurants in Seattle, so I'm almost a professional," Juniper joked. But her smile faded as once again her attention drifted to Riley. She wondered what he was doing right now.

Once Sora had finished setting up the table, the girls dug in. Juniper quickly filled her plate with anything that would fit.

Halfway through the meal, Juniper heard a strange beeping sound coming from one of the rooms.

"Sora, what is that?" her mother asked in an annoyed tone. Sora suddenly looked very concerned as she listened to the beeping.

"Um…I don't know…let me go check the computer…" she said and quickly got up from the table. Juniper didn't think it was anything to worry about, but ten minutes had passed and Sora had not returned.

"Sora, honey, is everything all right?" Ms. Takenouchi called into Sora's room.

"Yeah, Mom, there's just something wrong with my computer," she yelled back.

"I'm going to go see if she needs help. I'm pretty good with computers," Juniper told Ms. Takenouchi and excused herself from the table.

When Juniper entered Sora's room, she found her sitting at her computer desk on her cell phone.

"Yeah…just get here as soon as possible. And spread the word. I think we need everyone here," Sora said in a hushed voice. Just as she hung up she turned around and jumped when she saw Juniper at the doorway.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Juniper apologized.

"No, that's okay. A bunch of my friends are coming over later, but if you're too tired to deal with remembering names, feel free to go to bed. It's no big deal. There will be plenty of other chances to meet them, and they'll understand if you just want to sleep," Sora explained.

Juniper thought for a moment. "Actually, is that really okay? I think I need to hit the sack soon. It's been such a long day, and I don't want to seem boring or rude if I stay up and look sleepy when I meet your friends. They're not coming over just to see me, are they?"

"Oh, no, they're here to…just don't worry about it, it's totally fine," Sora reassured her.

"Alright, thanks. I think I'll finish up dinner and then get ready for bed."

* * *

About an hour later, Juniper was in the guest room unpacking her suitcase when she heard the doorbell ring. She poked her head out and watched as Sora went to answer the door. Her eyes widened as eight people piled in! Was Sora planning on having a party? But something abruptly caught Juniper's eye. One of the last people to enter was a boy with long blond hair…and behind him…she felt her heart jump. Riley was here! Juniper couldn't believe it. The guy Riley was staying with was friends with Sora!

Juniper walked over to them to introduce herself. But also to see the look of surprise on Riley's face when he saw her.

"Everyone, this is Juniper. She's the exchange student from America who's staying with me," Sora announced to her friends. "And this is Tai," she said, pointing to a boy with rather large brown hair. "That's Mimi and Joe," Sora continued as she motioned to a girl with pink hair and a tall boy with blue hair and glasses. Izzy was the shorter one with reddish brown hair, Kari was Tai's younger sister, and T.K. and Matt were the two blond brothers.

"Juniper, have you met Riley? He's an exchange student, too, living with Matt and T.K.! And you're both American! What a coincidence!"

Riley stared at Juniper, not moving or speaking.

"We won't see each other at all is right," Juniper said quietly, trying to make it sound like it was an amusing comment, but it didn't come out as planned.

"Yeah…," Riley mumbled back.

The group looked at the two Americans with confused expressions. It was completely silent for a moment.

"We know each other from school," Juniper informed them, finally breaking her stare.

"Wow, that's wonderful!" Mimi exclaimed. Riley was suddenly interested in his shoes.

"You guys can go hang out in Juniper's room if you want…the rest of us are working on a school project," Sora said with a nervous smile.

"It's nothing special, just boring stuff," Tai spoke up.

Juniper nodded, but she thought she could detect a strange anxiousness coming from everyone. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something didn't feel right.

The eight kids scuffled into Sora's bedroom and closed the door. Juniper and Riley were left in the hallway alone. Riley was still looking at the ground.

"Do you have any idea what's going on?" Juniper whispered, trying to break the silence, but she was also curious as to what was really happening with Sora and everyone else.

"What do you mean?" Riley asked.

"Don't you think it's strange…all of those people coming here to work on a school project? I heard Sora on the phone and she sounded like there was a problem. And it's still summer! School doesn't start for a week. What could they possibly be working on?"

"I don't know; schools are different in Japan. Maybe they had summer homework or something."

"Well, I don't buy it," Juniper said stubbornly, crossing her arms.

Loud voices started to seep through Sora's door.

"_How is that possible?"_

"_I haven't heard anything from Agumon!"_

"_We defeated Apocalymon years ago!"_

"_What do you think is going on now?"_

Juniper looked up at Riley. "Does that sound like schoolwork to you?" she asked skeptically. Riley frowned but moved closer to the door. Juniper pressed her ear against it.

"This is eavesdropping…" Riley muttered through gritted teeth. Juniper shushed him.

"_We have to return to the DigiWorld."_

"_But how?"_

"_Did Biyomon give you any instructions when she just contacted you, Sora?"_

"_It was a strange message…she just spoke in rhyme! I remember her saying 'The gate will emerge when day and night converge'. I can't figure out the meaning…there was more but I can't remember. It was like she wasn't even speaking to me…it seemed as if something was controlling her. She just wasn't herself."_

"What the hell are they talking about?" Riley asked. But Juniper was too busy staring at the gold chain around her neck, the pendant disc. Almost in a trance, her fingers drifted closer to the necklace.

"They keep saying 'mon' at the end of every word. What the heck? What kind of people have we—Juniper what are you doing?" Riley said as he turned to look at Juniper. She was standing perfectly straight and motionless, staring into space; her hand ready to grasp the pendant.

The tips of her fingers brushed against the metal, and suddenly a blinding light shot from underneath Sora's door.

"What the—?" Riley yelped and jumped back from the door. It swung open to reveal all eight kids surrounding the computer in Sora's room. The burning light was blasting from her computer screen, and it was so bright everyone had to shield their eyes with their arms.

Juniper blinked and shook her head, falling from her trance. Tai had turned to the doorway and saw Juniper and Riley gazing with frightened looks. He didn't know what to do. The light was still so intense he couldn't think straight.

A voice floated through the beam like the sound of chiming bells.

"_I'm afraid we need the help of the DigiDestined once again. Here are your DigiVice_," rang the bodiless voice. Eight meteor-like objects flew from the computer monitor and into the hands of their previous owners.

"_But eight might not be enough. Two more DigiDestined have been chosen. With them, you will be invincible_," the voice continued. Two meteors again emerged from the computer and floated towards Juniper and Riley.

The eight DigiDestined all turned to look where the meteors had landed.

Juniper gaped at the tiny contraption that had dropped into her hand. Riley had one, too. Neither of them had any idea what to do. This had to be a dream…

"I don't believe it…" Sora murmured as she watched them.

"They're the…new DigiDestined," Izzy finished.

The dazzling white light instantly changed into a vivid aurora. It formed a vortex; and Juniper felt her body being dragged in. She couldn't fight it—the force was too strong. She screamed as she tumbled into the vacuum and she thought she could see the other kids falling beside her. Her stomach jostled violently as she fell faster and faster into the seemingly bottomless hole.

* * *

_Where…am I?_

Juniper slowly opened her eyes. Her body was pressed against something hard and uncomfortable. After awhile she realized she was lying face down on the ground. Juniper got up hastily to study her surroundings more.

It seemed she was in the clearing of a very dense forest. She had never seen these kinds of trees before. With a horrible feeling in her stomach, Juniper grasped that she was completely alone. She twisted her head frenziedly; searching for someone to be between the trees. No one was there.

"Riley?" she called timidly. There was a rustle in some distant bushes.

"Riley?!" Juniper yelled with more hope. The sound of the rustling grew louder, but there was no answer. Juniper quickly started to panic. What if that wasn't Riley? What if that wasn't anyone she knew? What if something was hunting her? She stood frozen in the middle of the clearing, frantically searching for somewhere to hide. Whatever was in the forest was getting closer…

Juniper closed her eyes and grabbed the necklace in her fist. Whenever she was scared or nervous she would hold on to it. It always helped her think. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked again at the giant tree with the huge trunk. As quickly as she could, Juniper ran behind the tree before whatever was coming for her got to the clearing.

She leaned her back against the tree, breathing heavily. The rustling had stopped. Maybe they had reached the clearing. Meekly, Juniper strained her neck to take a glimpse of what was behind her. But nothing was there. Juniper sighed with relief. She turned back around.

"Hello!" said the creature standing at her feet.

"AHHHHHHH!" Juniper screamed and started running again.

"Wait! Come back!" yelled the thing. Juniper looked back as she ran. The thing was bouncing after her like a kangaroo, except the thing didn't have feet. It looked like a cat's head with a tail. And it had a gold earring on its left ear…and two purple markings on its cheeks. What kind of animal was this??

"Hey! Watch out for the—" yelled the creature, but it was too late. Juniper ran smack into the low hanging tree branch and fell over.

Once again, Juniper was lying on the ground.

"Ouch…" she mumbled, rubbing her forehead.

"Are you okay?" the blob asked, finally catching up. Juniper sat up and crawled a couple feet away from the thing.

"What are you?" Juniper demanded. The creature sighed.

"They didn't tell you?"

"Who tell me what?" she spat, still clutching her head.

"My name is Konekomon. I'm a Digimon."

"That's what Sora and everyone were talking about…" Juniper said half to herself as everything was becoming clearer.

"Yes, and you're my partner, Juniper. You're the new DigiDestined."

"Hey! How do you know my name? And what do you mean partner?"

"This is going to take a long time to explain…" Konekomon started.

"Oh, well, if it's going to take too long, don't bother," Juniper said sarcastically. The Digimon stared blankly at her.

"Yes, explaining would be great," she rephrased.

"Alright. First of all, you're in the DigiWorld, or Digital World, whichever you prefer. It's an alternate universe from your planet Earth. And this whole place is inhabited by Digimon, which means Digital Monster," Konekomon explained.

"Then why am _I _here?"

"You're one of the DigiDestined. I'm your Digimon partner. I need you to make me stronger, and I need to be strong to fight the new evil in the DigiWorld. There's some kind of strange unknown force that's destroying everything."

"Wait—you need me to help save the world?"

"Yes. In fact, you've been chosen. This is random by no means. Just like all the other DigiDestined you met."

"All of Sora's friends are DigiDestined?"

"Yep, and so is your friend Riley. All of them are here, too."

"They are?! Where are they?" Juniper struggled to her feet, forgetting about her injury.

"I don't know exactly where, but I can lead you out of this forest."

"Then let's go!" Juniper said excitedly.

The Digimon began hopping away and Juniper followed closely behind. After about five minutes of running past the trees, the Digimon halted abruptly. Her tail was standing straight up and her eyes had narrowed.

"What is it?" Juniper asked.

"There's another Digimon here…"

"Is that bad?"

Konekomon turned to face her partner. "Not all Digimon are good, Juniper."

"What do we do?" she whispered, getting more and more frightened by the second.

"Get down," Konekomon replied.

Juniper crouched behind a bush. They heard a twig snap, and footsteps. Juniper gasped and subconsciously pulled the Digimon closer to her.

"Juniper, is that you?"

"Riley?" Juniper breathed. She immediately jumped up. Riley was standing before her, but he wasn't alone. The boy was carrying a tiny Digimon under his arm. It looked like the head of an orange tiger cub, and it too had a tail and an earring, but on it's right ear. Riley looked at Konekomon by Juniper's feet.

"You have one, too?" he asked.

"Yeah, this is Konekomon. Is that one yours?"

Riley set the tiger head down. "This is Tsumemon. But I still have no idea what's going on."

"We'll get into more details later," Tsumemon spoke up.

"Right now it's important we find the others, before we actually do run into a not-so-friendly Digimon," Konekomon added. Riley and Juniper looked at each other. Words weren't necessary. They seemed to mutually agree that they were either out of their minds, dreaming, or there was some small possibility that this was really happening.

An ear-piercing screech erupted from the trees a few meters away. They could hear trees being torn down, and the screeching continued.

"What's happening?!" Juniper shrieked. A huge red beetle-like Digimon came into view as it flew above the treetops, and like an eclipse it blocked the sunlight shining above them.

"That's Kuwagumon! An Insectoid Digimon!" Tsumemon yelled over the Digimon's screeching.

"He's huge!" Riley shouted.

"We have to fight him!" Konekomon said to Tsumemon. Tsumemon nodded.

"Wait! You can't! You're so tiny! He'll squish you!" Juniper pleaded with her Digimon, scooping Konekomon up in her arms. Kuwagumon was getting ready to land next to them. Konekomon wriggled free from her partner and bounded towards the giant Digimon.

"_Bubble Blast_!" Konekomon shouted. A powerful gust of wind burst from the mouth of the tiny Digimon. Juniper would have been impressed if Kuwagumon hadn't looked like he didn't feel anything.

"_Bubble Blast_!" Tsumemon used the same attack. Kuwagumon swatted at them with his claws like they were flies. Tsumemon dodged his swinging pincher, but Konekomon wasn't so lucky. She was hit and flew into the trunk of a tree.

"No! Konekomon!" Juniper screamed, running to the aid of her Digimon. She was lying still on the ground and looked unconscious.

"Juniper, watch out!" Riley called after her. Juniper looked back too late, and Kuwagumon grabbed her in his claw, lifting her high into the air. She tried to fight free, but the monster's grip was too strong.

"Tsumemon, do something!" Riley yelled. Tsumemon tried his Bubble Blast again, but it was no good.

"_Pepper Breath_!"

A flaming ball of fire tore through the trees and hit Kuwagumon right between the eyes. The Digimon let out a different screech, this one sounded like he was in pain. Everyone looked to see where this new attack had come from. Tai came running through the trees with an orange dinosaur at his side.

"Hold on, Juniper!" he called up to her. "Agumon, keep using Pepper Breath. Aim for his stomach this time!"

Agumon fired again, following Tai's instructions. When the fire hit its mark, Kuwagumon keeled over, letting out another screech of agony. Juniper screamed as well.

"He's tightening his grip on her!" Riley said to Tai. Tai scrunched up his eyebrows.

"We need a distraction. If Agumon keeps hurting him he's going to break her in half," Tai said.

Still on the ground, Konekomon had regained consciousness. As her blurred vision became clearer, she saw that Juniper had been captured by Kuwagumon.

"No!" she shouted. "Juniper! I'll save you!" Konekomon got up but knew that her Bubble Blast wouldn't do anything. _Oh no, what I am supposed to do? I need to be strong for Juniper!_

A beam shot from the DigiVice in Juniper's pocket as she was still in the grasp of Kuwagumon, enveloping Konekomon in a rainbow light.

"She's DigiVolving!" Tai shouted excitedly.

"_Konekomon, DigiVolve to…Nekomon!_"

The cute little kitten head had grown into what looked like a black cat, but the size of a big dog. The gold earring was still on her left ear, as were the two purple markings under her eyes. But this Digimon looked a lot more menacing. Nekomon bared her sharp teeth and hissed at Kuwagumon. Leaning back on her hind legs, her eyes narrowed and with a single swift movement, she launched herself towards the beetle. Nekomon landed on the arm that held Juniper. Kuwagumon noticed and violently thrashed its arms, trying to throw Nekomon off. But the cat had dug her claws into his skin, and she slowly began crawling towards the wrist. When she reached her destination, she opened her jaw wide and plunged her teeth into the Digimon.

With a horrifying scream of agony, Kuwagumon released Juniper.

"Juniper!" Nekomon yelled as she helplessly watched her fall towards the ground. She prepared herself for the sound of Juniper's neck breaking when she hit the bottom, but to her relief Tai had acted quickly and ran to catch her in his arms. The two of them tumbled over. Nekomon jumped down from Kuwagumon to see if she was alright.

Juniper was sitting on top of Tai's stomach, looking very dazed.

"Juniper! Are you okay?" Riley said, rushing to her side.

"Yeah…what happened? I thought I fell about fifty feet!"

"I tried to catch you," mumbled a voice from under her. Juniper looked down.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" she apologized, getting off of him.

"That's okay. I'm just glad you're not hurt."

"Thanks for breaking my fall," she giggled. Tai laughed with her as she helped him up.

"Um, guys," Riley said impatiently, "we still have a problem."

"_Pepper Breath_!" Agumon used his fire attack on Kuwagumon's stomach again.

"_Claws of Fury_!" Nekomon joined him. She was swiping Kabukimon at his leg, but so quickly you could barely see her paw moving.

Kuwagumon lost his balance from the force of their attacks and stumbled backwards. Agumon and Nekomon attacked him again, and with a ground-trembling thud he fell over. For a moment, he didn't move at all, and then suddenly he shattered into millions of pieces and floated away.

Riley and Juniper were rooted to their spots.

"Is he…dead?" Riley finally asked.

"Not technically dead. He will be reborn. But yeah, he's gone," Tai told them.

"Nekomon! Nekomon! You did it!" Juniper said happily as she ran towards her partner. Nekomon jumped into her arms and Juniper almost fell over like Kuwagumon, but she kept her balance.

"Thanks for helping me DigiVolve," Nekomon said into Juniper's shoulder.

"No, thank _you _for saving my life."

"No problem."

Juniper looked up to see Tai watching. She gave him a warm smile before he quickly turned away.

"Good work, Agumon. Now let's go meet everyone else," Tai said. Everyone nodded in agreement and followed Tai and Agumon out of the forest.

* * *

_Well, I made it through my first adventure in the DigiWorld. Hopefully it's the last, too. And hopefully I'll be getting some answers. Like why I'm here. And what's destroying the DigiWorld. And when I can go home. See what I mean? Your life can't be any weirder than this. I win._


	2. Episode 2: This is Just the Beginning

**Episode 2 – This is Only the Beginning  
**

"Where are we going?" Juniper asked Tai as the three humans and their Digimon trekked through the forest's thick vegetation. Even though it was pretty warm in the DigiWorld, Juniper was glad she was wearing knee-high boots. Otherwise, her legs would be covered in scratches by now.

"We have to get to the others. It's not safe to be out here with only one Digimon who can DigiVolve to Champion," Tai replied. Agumon, the little orange dinosaur, hacked at the brush with his claws, carving a crude path through the thicket.

"So the other guys have Digimon, too?" Riley questioned.

Tai didn't answer. He jerked to a stop. Juniper, who had been keeping her eyes on the ground so as to not step in anything gross, ran into his back.

"Oops! Sor-"

Tai turned around quickly and brought his index finger to his lips while glaring. He and Agumon seemed to be looking at something in the distance.

Juniper looked down at Nekomon and they both shrugged.

"Get down! Now!" Agumon yelped urgently to the others. Without question, Riley and Juniper instantly dropped to their knees in the thicket. Nekomon remained standing alert, sniffing the air for a whiff of what Agumon was afraid of until Tai reached up and pulled her down by her tail.

A pair of eerie blue eyes were becoming more visible through the filmy darkness of the forest. Juniper could hear Nekomon's hiss coming from nearby. Her heart's pounding was thrumming in her ears. She wanted to go home!

"Pepper Breath!" Agumon aimed at the eyes. The eyes flinched as the ball of fire hit above them, but the creature was obviously not hurt. A strange cawing sound came from it. Tai stood up from the ground in realization.

"Agumon! It's okay! It's Birdramon," he called.

A giant sienna brown bird pushed its way between the trees. She could hardly get her enormous head through them.

"This wasn't such a great idea..." the bird cawed again.

"There's a clearing just a few yards back. Can you make it out of these trees and try landing over there?" Agumon yelled to her. With a nod of her beak, Birdramon rose (not so gracefully) from the trees that were encasing her and quickly landed not too far from where they were. Tai beckoned everyone else to go back on the trail Agumon had cut down.

"Climb on!" Birdramon said when they reached her. Everyone ran to her legs and held on tight as the monstrosity of a Digimon flapped her wings in take off once more. They started flying in the direction Juniper and the others were originally trying to head towards.

"What were you doing walking in the forest?" Tai asked.

"The forest was so thick, I couldn't see anything from above," Birdramon replied.

"Now where are we going?" Riley said to Tai.

"Birdramon is taking us to our mountain...it's kinda like our hideout," Tai grinned. Riley huffed and looked away. Juniper was too busy basking in the magnificence of the ride. This new world seemed much less terrifying from above.

Juniper was a little disappointed when the flight came to an end. Birdramon perched herself on a cliff that was hanging off a giant mountain, the tallest peak on this range from what Juniper could tell. Not far from the edge of the cliff was the opening of a cave that continued into the peak. The three humans and Digimon hopped down from Birdramon's claws as the huge bird suddenly became a much smaller and cuter pink bird.

Sora came running from the cave to greet them.

"Juniper! Riley! It's great to see that Biyomon found you, but we should get inside as quick as possible," she said. Both she and Tai looked suspiciously at the sky before they ushered the new DigiDestined into the cave.

Inside was a small fire burning, and six of the kids Juniper had met at Sora's apartment were sitting in a circle around it. Each of them also had a Digimon. All twelve pairs of eyes were on Juniper and Riley.

"Sit down with us," Sora invited warmly as she sat down next to Matt, the boy Riley was staying with. Suddenly, Juniper remembered that she was on an exchange program. Who knew that when she signed up for it, she'd be actually going to the DigiWorld?

Once everyone was settled, the Digimon were introduced to Juniper and Riley. The Americans couldn't do anything except nod nervously, not even attempting to remember the strange names. It was all too much right now. Izzy seemed to notice this and interjected.

"I suppose you two are wondering what exactly is going on here." Juniper and Riley looked at him gratefully.

"Oh, sorry!" Tai said apologetically, but laughing at himself. "I was so wrapped up in the battle I forgot how confused you guys are."

"We'll start with the basics then. I assume your Digimon have told you you're in the Digital World, and they're your partners. Of course, there's more to it than that. All of us humans here are DigiDestined. We have each been chosen to come and help defeat whatever evil that comes to the DigiWorld," Izzy began.

"But why us? Why were we chosen?" Riley asked. Juniper nodded in agreement.

"Our theory is that you have to have had an encounter with a Digimon in the past. Do either of you remember seeing a Digimon when you were younger?" Joe said.

"Or maybe it could've been more recent," Matt added. Juniper and Riley looked at each other and shook their heads.

"I don't remember anything like that..." Juniper said.

"Me neither," Riley remarked.

"But you've all been here before?" Juniper asked them.

"Yes. Just once. But it was for a long time," T.K. replied.

"And there sure was a lot of evil to fight," Mimi chimed in.

"So what evil is there now?" Riley inquired.

"We're not exactly sure..." Tai began, looking uneasily at Agumon. "But the Digimon have been filling us in."

"Digimon who used to be serene and gentle creatures, or even Digimon who were a little on the rough side but still good-hearted, are being possessed by something evil!" Palmon exclaimed.

"We thought it would be something like Devimon's black gears that we battled before, but they keep telling us it's different," Sora said solemnly.

"There's nothing to tell you if a Digimon is possessed. No black gear sticking out of them, their eyes don't look different...there's no way you can tell the difference," Tentomon said with a rather annoying quivering voice.

"And what do we do about it?" Juniper questioned.

"We find out who's doing this, and why, and we stop them!" Tai declared, slamming his fist on the cave floor. Juniper winced. They all seemed so determined to stop an evil that was hurting a world Juniper wasn't even sure she liked.

"So this is all...real?" Riley asked nervously, not really wanting to know the answer.

"Very much so," Izzy replied.

"And we're hiding in a cave because we don't know who to trust?" Juniper said. Tai nodded.

Before Juniper could ask another question, a loud blast was heard from the entrance of the cave. All of the DigiDestined stood up instantly.

"What was that?" Kari shouted as the blasting noise was becoming more frequent.

"It's a possessed Digimon!" Gatomon cried.

"We don't know for sure, but I'll go check it out," Tai said, motioning to Agumon. Suddenly, Juniper realized she would rather be closer to the entrance of the cave than deeper into it where there was no light.

"I'll go with you!" she shouted.

"No! Stay here with Nekomon. All of you, stay here!" Tai yelled. The blasting continued and Juniper could feel the cave floor vibrating beneath her feet.

"Let me go with you," Riley said. It sounded more like a demand than a request. "I can't stay here and do nothing. I need to know what the heck is going on."

By looking at Riley's expression, Tai knew better than to argue with him. The two boys ran off, followed by their Digimon.

When they got outside, they saw that a tiny bowling ball-sized Digimon was sending giant shocks of electricity in the side of the cave. Some of the mountainous rock was beginning to topple off.

"That's Thundermon!" Agumon exclaimed. The little Digimon heard him and turned to face them.

"Oops..." Agumon muttered.

"So much for a surprise attack..." Tai said under his breath.

"Thunderbolt!" Thundermon roared, shooting his electric shock at Agumon.

"Look out!" Tai shouted. Agumon tried to get out of the way, but instead of hitting his body, the electricity hit his tail. He yelped in pain as Tai rushed to his side.

"Let me DigiVolve!" Tsumemon squeaked wildly at Riley. The little tiger head began bouncing up and down as Thundermon started his next Thunderbolt attack.

"Uh...okay...if you think you can," Riley said, staring blankly at his Digimon. The Digivice in his pocket began to glow, and the same glow was also shining from Tsumemon.

"Tsumemon DigiVolve to....Toramon!"

In the little tiger head's place was a larger tiger, but this one thankfully was a full-bodied tiger cub. Toramon's fur was dark orange with purple jagged stripes lining his abdomen, and a gold earring just like Nekomon's hung on the Digimon's right ear.

Riley looked almost proud of his Digimon, but quickly shook the feeling away and instructed Toramon to attack.

"Do as best you can to distract Thundermon before he hurts Agumon!"

Toramon nodded, baring his teeth and crouching down, winding his legs for a pounce. Just as Thundermon was about to release his attack, Toramon charged and sprung on top of the little Digimon from behind. Stunned, Thundermon fell over and his Thunderbolt hit above the entrance of the cave.

"Comet Claw!" Toramon howled, and ball of fire in the shape of his paw went flying at the Digimon.

"Now's your chance! DigiVolve!" Tai called to Agumon. Agumon stood up.

"Agumon DigiVolve to...Greymon!"

Greymon was ten times the size of Agumon. The sheer size of him caused Thundermon to start quivering.

"Nova Blast!"

The immense ball of fire, obviously much more powerful than Toramon's Comet Claw, slammed into Thundermon, knocking him off of the cliff. Riley and Tai ran to the edge, looking down to see what happened to him. Thundermon continued to fall, further than Tai and Riley could see.

"Do you think he really was possessed by something?" Riley asked.

"Dunno. But we'll never know now, I guess," Tai responded, still looking down into the depths of the mountains. Behind them, Greymon devolved back into Agumon.

"Nice to meet ya, Toramon!" Agumon said, extending a claw. Toramon smiled, which looked a bit menacing with his razor sharp teeth. The two Digimon shook...limbs...and laughed. Riley and Tai turned around.

"So you're still Tsumemon?" he asked.

"Yep! Only cooler!" Toramon winked.

"Let's get back to everybody else. I'm sure Juniper's pretty scared," Tai suggested. Riley rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure she's fine," Riley retorted. As he spoke, the rocks above the cave entrance that had been hit by Thundermon wobbled dangerously.

"I think those rocks are about to fall! Hurry! Run inside!" Tai bellowed.

The boys and their Digimon ran as fast as they could into the cave just as the boulders tumbled in front of the cave. Where sunlight had previously lit the first few yards of the cave, it was now completely dark, with only a few rays of light shooting from cracks in between the rocks. As soon as Riley's eyes became used to the darkness he turned on his heels to face Tai.

"Why would you have us run into the cave?! Now we're trapped!" he shouted.

"The last thing we need right now is to be separated from each other! Besides, now the others will know we're okay," Tai replied defensively.

"Whatever. Let's just get everyone else over here and find a way out," Riley grumbled.

"Fine," Tai riposted. The pair and their Digimon trudged over to their friends, and Tai suddenly regretted his decision to trap them all in a cave.


	3. Episode 3: Discovery

Episode 3 – Discovery

"What happened?" Mimi shrieked as loud as humanly possible. Obviously she was not worried about Tai and Riley, she wanted to know why their only exit from the cave was now closed.

"Nothing to worry about," Tai told the group. "We'll just have our Digimon DigiVolve and blast ourselves out of the cave."

"Here, let us do something," Matt said. He looked to Gabumon by his side and held up his DigiVice.

"Ready, Gabumon?"

"Gabumon! DigiVolve to...!"

Nothing happened. Gabumon looked at Matt confusedly and cocked his head to the side. Everyone else looked around at each other, bewildered.

"What's wrong, Gabummon?" Palmon asked her friend. Matt stared down at the DigiVice in his hand. The screen was blank, no sort of glow was emitting from it, and no sound, either.

"It's not him. There's something wrong with my DigiVice."

Several of the other DigiDestined reached in their pockets to check out theirs.

"Try DigiVolving again, Agumon! You just did it a minute ago," Tai urged. Agumon stepped forward. Tai extended his arm to hold out his DigiVice.

"Agumon! DigiVovle to...!" Agumon squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his fists, trying to stimulate some kind evolution, but to no avail.

"I'm sorry, Tai! I just can't do it..." Agumon moaned.

"That's okay, buddy. I don't think any of you can DigiVolve for some reason," Tai assured him. Sora, T.K., Mimi, and Joe each tried to get their partners to DigiVolve. No luck.

"What do you think is going on?" Kari asked, not really expecting anyone to know the answer.

"I think right now the important thing is that we get out of this cave first," Riley replied as he peered at Tai. Tai crossed his arms and glowered back. Juniper sighed at the two boys. Was it really that hard to get along?

"Riley does have a point," Gomamon piped in. "I dont' know about you guys, but being trapped inside a cave doesn't make me feel any better than not being able to DigiVolve." The other Digimon seemed to be of the same mind.

"Hey! You guys, great news! I was able to pull up a sort of GPS map of where we are in the DigiWorld, and it's showing an exit at the end of this tunnel!" Izzy exclaimed suddenly.

"Awesome! That's amazing Izzy, how did you do that?" Juniper said.

"Oh, we're not surprised by it anymore. Izzy's a genius with computers," Sora responded.

The troop began their expedition through the tunnel. There was a considerable regression of sunlight after their immediate leave of the original entrance, but thankfully Joe had packed a flashlight in his bag.

"Always be prepared," he justified.

As the journey continued, the Digimon had gathered around the two new additions. They had so many questions for each other.

"How strange..." Gatomon purred to Nekomon, "to walk on all fours." Nekomon glanced down at her paws.

"Seems natural to me," she replied.

"It doesn't look like Tai and Riley are becoming fast friends," Agumon commented to Toramon.

"Perhaps they just need more time than most. Is Riley always so indifferent?" Toramon inquired.

"I have no idea! You know him better than I do!"

"Oh dear...this will be an interesting partnership," Toramon sighed.

On the human side, the conversation was less buoyant.

"Our Digimon don't act very worried about these phantoms taking over their souls..." Juniper remarked almost absentmindedly.

"I'm sure they're worried, they just don't want us to be worried," Matt said. "That's how much they care about us."

Juniper softly smiled as she gazed at the group of Digimon walking behind them.

"It's strange--to suddenly be brought to this world and have these Digimon assigned to you, and yet they already know they want to protect you." As she spoke, she touched the necklace she was wearing.

"It's just...a nice thing. I don't know. We're stuck in a cave, but I still feel a bit serene, you know?"

Tai looked at Juniper with admiration. She must be living the most bizarre day of her life, but she still found time to appreciate her Digimon. He realized then that Juniper and Nekomon would have a very tenacious friendship. He also knew that the Digital World had a way of making people fast friends. Or fast enemies, for that matter.

The group kept walking, walking walking. The walk continued, and continued, and continued. Hours had passed, and everyone had gotten much quieter. Mimi had even stopped complaining that her feet hurt. Another hour passed, the walking slowed down, and it was dead silent among them. No one uttered a sound out of sheer exhaustion.

Suddenly, the silence was broken by a loud grumbling noise. Everyone's heads turned to the source. It was Patamon.

"I'm sorry! I'm just so hungry!" Patamon whined, rubbing his belly guiltily. They all had to laugh as more stomach growls were heard.

"Perfect time to take a break, I guess," Joe suggested.

"Do we have any food, though?" Sora asked around.

"Um...I do," Juniper replied sheepishly.

"Great! Whatcha got?" Nekomon asked as she hopped over to her. Juniper grinned and reached into her jacket pockets. One by one, she tossed packages of food onto the floor, and continued to fish around her jacket for more. First a pack of mini Oreos, then a pair of Twinkies, Skittles, Reese's Pieces, a couple bags of Funyuns, Twizzlers, two chocolate chip Chewy bars, Starburst, and a bag of Doritos.

"Woah!" T.K. exclaimed.

"Why do you have all of that?" Riley demanded.

"It was for the plane ride over to Tokyo!" Juniper said quickly. "I didn't empty my pockets when I got to Sora's."

"It's a good thing you didn't. Let's dig in! I guess everyone will have to share with their Digimon," Tai said. Everyone stared at the pile of junk food, not knowing what to pick.

"It all looks so...American," Joe muttered.

"I don't know what that means, but who cares?" Gomamon said, and picked up a bag of Funyuns. He tried to pull open the bag, but it was a bit difficult with his flipper claws. Finally, he simply ripped a hole in the center of it with his claw. Putting one gingerly in his mouth, he instantly looked up at Joe with glee.

"These are delicious!" he cried out, food still in his mouth.

"What would I like, Juniper?" Nekomon asked. Juniper thought for a moment. Then she picked up the pack of Twizzlers and peeled it open.

"These are my favorite! It's strawberry flavored licorice sticks," Juniper explained as she handed a piece of the candy to Nekomon's open mouth. Nekomon chewed cautiously, but soon began chewing faster, and swallowed the candy down in an audible gulp.

"More please!" she commanded. Juniper tossed her another piece. Behind her, the rest of the group was trying to pick out what they wanted from the pile.

"Ohmigosh! These are GREAT!" Nekomon squealed. "More!"

"Okay, but we're sharing them, remember? There's only eight in here, meaning you can just have two more," Juniper explained slowly, hoping she hadn't created a monster.

"Yeah, yeah! Sure! More please!!"

Juniper sighed and gave her some more.

Riley had picked the two Chewy bars for him and Toramon. He broke Toramon's in half and tossed it to him as he sat down against the cave wall.

"What is this, Riley?" Toramon asked after he swallowed.

"A granola bar. Probably the only remotely healthy thing Juniper had. She eats like that all the time. I can't understand why she's not sick everyday," Riley answered, looking up at the ceiling.

Around him, Toramon saw the other Digimon sitting with their partners, eating their snacks and laughing with each other. Riley silently flung over the other half of the bar. It landed at Toramon's feet, still staring at nothing.

"I wonder if I'll ever know what he's thinking," Toramon wondered.

After they had finished snacking, Tai urged them to start walking again.

"This food probably won't hold us over for very long. We better keep trying to find the end before someone faints from hunger," he said as he helped Juniper up.

"I agree," Kari replied. Mimi let out an obnoxious whimper.

"I'm going to stay here. My feet still hurt," she groused. Everyone had to roll their eyes, even the new guys.

"Look, Mimi, I checked my computer again. We're probably less than two hours away from what I can tell," Izzy assured her, motioning to his laptop that he had set up on his legs. Mimi closed her eyes and exhaled.

"C'mon, Mimi!" Palmon begged.

"Fine. As long as each and every one of you promises me that you will never make me walk in a cave ever again!" she shouted.

"Okay, okay! Now let's go!" Matt said in exasperation.

And so the second leg of their trek began. Juniper wandered over to where Tai was at the head of the group and started to walk beside him.

"So, do you have a plan?" she said in a half-whisper.

"About what?" he replied.

"About these...phantoms. I mean, how do you usually defeat these kind of things?"

"Well, first of all, we have to get out of this cave. Then, usually we start talking to other Digimon we may meet, and see what they know. We have to find out more about who's behind this."

"How do you know someone is behind it?"

"That's how it always is. There's always a greater evil."

"And do these things usually take long?"

"If you mean in just a couple days, I have to disappoint you. I think your visit to Japan will be cut short."

"But...don't your families worry about you? What do you tell them?"

"The truth. They know about the DigiWorld and everything. It's a long story as to how they know, but they know we have responsibilities here."

"And what do I tell my family? They won't know why I'm not e-mailing or calling."

"I'm sure Sora's mother will come up with something to tell them."

Juniper nodded, hardly satisfied. They fell silent for a few minutes.

"So how do you like being a DigiDestined?" Tai finally asked her.

"It's not as glamorous as I had hoped," Juniper stated, indicating to the group of moaning sore-footed DigiDestined behind her. Tai let out a laugh.

After what seemed like much longer than two hours, Biyomon gasped and started to fly ahead.

"Biyomon, what are you doing?" Sora yelled, but as she spoke everyone else gasped as well.

"Light! There's some light coming from ahead!"

Suddenly, everyone's feet felt much better, and they all began running.

"We're almost there, you guys!" Tai shouted over his shoulder as he and Juniper outran everyone. Riley, Matt, and Sora were close behind. All of a sudden, the running was brought to a halt. Joe ran right into Tai's back. T.K. nearly fell into Joe as he skidded to a stop.

"Where's the exit?!" Mimi cried out. The light they had seen wasn't the other side of the cave, it was an illuminating glow emitting from the lines of a design carved onto the cave wall. It was a dead end.

"You said this was an exit, Izzy!" Sora yelled.

"That's what the computer said..." Izzy spluttered.

"Hold on you guys! Maybe this is just a gate or something that's hiding the entrance," Gabumon suggested.

"Good thinking, Gabumon," Tai said. "But can anyone figure out what this design means?"

Juniper stepped closer to get a better look. The design was a large circle with several overlapping smaller circles within it. Written along the circumference of each circle were words in a language that Juniper had never seen before. But for some reason, Juniper recognized the circle design.

"Look up there!" Nekomon said to her as she joined her partner by her feet. Juniper's eyes moved to the top of the circle. Carved into the wall was a different design, and this one was not glowing like the rest. It appeared to be half a sun on one side and a crescent moon on the other. Juniper did not recognize this motif.

"It looks magical or something," Gatomon remarked.

"Do you think this is what's keeping us from DigiVolving?" Agumon questioned.

"I don't know what other explanation there is. But can anyone ready this?" Tai said. Everyone shook their heads.

"It doesn't look like any written Digimon language I've seen, and there's not too many of those, since most Digimon don't have hands," Tentomon explained.

"Here, I'll take a picture. That way we can show it to anyone we find who might be able to read it," Kari offered, holding up the digital camera that was hanging around her neck.

"If we ever get out of here," T.K. muttered. There was a new flash of light as Kari snapped a photo of the design. She looked at the preview on her camera's screen.

"It's not the most ideal lighting, but the writing is discernible."

Without warning, the necklace that Juniper was wearing began to glow as well. Juniper screamed.

"What's going on?" she yelped. Tai ran over to her. The necklace began to float upwards by itself, seemingly reaching for the wall. Juniper looked around for instructions on what to do.

"Is this normal for the DigiWorld?" she asked with a frightened voice.

"I guess you could say that," Matt responded.

The cave design started to glow brighter and brighter. Everyone had to shield their eyes, but it looked as if the glowing was disintegrating the cave wall. Where the rocky wall once was had disappeared, and the group was elated to find that it revealed a view from the top of their mountain. Below the cliff ahead was a sea of trees, and above was the bright blue sky.

The kids and their Digimon excitedly ran to the cliff, taking in the wondrous scene as if they had not been out of the cave in days. Tai looked at Juniper's necklace, which was back to its normal state. Just a plain looking golden pendant necklace.

"Where did you say you got that necklace again?" Tai asked her.

"My dad got it for me on a business trip somewhere," she explained, also staring at the necklace. She couldn't explain how, but she knew that her necklace had opened the wall for them. This day just kept getting weirder.

A loud rumbling noise erupted from behind the group. They turned around to see the cave exit being immediately recovered with rocks. It looked as if nothing had ever torn it down before and that nothing would ever tear it down again.


End file.
